BLOODBOUND

CHAPTER 3

SOMETHING ABOUT THEM

By the third day of university, Amara had developed a problem.

His name was Lucien Veyr.

She didn’t know much about him.

Actually, she knew almost nothing.

She knew his name.

She knew he was always surrounded by the same four people.

She knew he rarely spoke.

She knew he had the most unsettling eyes she’d ever seen.

And she knew that whenever he walked into a room, she noticed.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Amara sat in the library with her laptop open, staring at the same paragraph she’d been reading for the past five minutes.

She hadn’t absorbed a word.

Maya looked over from her book.

“You’re doing it again.”

Amara blinked.

“Doing what?”

“Thinking about him.”

“I am not.”

Maya raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve been staring at that screen for five minutes.”

“I’m studying.”

“You’re staring.”

“Same thing.”

Maya laughed.

“What’s his name again?”

Amara hesitated.

“Lucien.”

Maya smiled.

“Lucien.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re trying to make it sound romantic.”

“Maybe I am.”

Amara rolled her eyes.

“He probably doesn’t even know I exist.”

Across the library, a chair scraped softly against the floor.

Amara looked up.

Her breath caught.

Lucien.

He was standing near the shelves with his four friends.

Adrian was saying something that made Elias laugh.

Damon looked completely uninterested.

Elena was holding a book against her chest.

And Lucien…

Lucien was looking directly at Amara.

Their eyes met.

Amara immediately looked down.

Maya’s smile widened.

“Oh.”

“Don’t.”

“You’re blushing.”

“I’m not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Amara reached for her water bottle.

“I’m going home.”

“You’ve been here for twenty minutes.”

“Exactly.”

Maya laughed.

Lucien watched Amara close her laptop.

He shouldn’t have been watching.

He knew that.

Yet his eyes followed her as she packed her things.

“She keeps looking at you.”

Adrian’s voice pulled him back.

Lucien turned.

“I know.”

Adrian grinned.

“Oh, so you admit you’re watching her?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You just did.”

Damon glanced toward Amara.

“She looks human.”

Lucien’s expression hardened.

“She is.”

“For now,” Elias murmured.

Lucien looked at him.

“What does that mean?”

Elias shrugged.

“Nothing.”

Lucien didn’t like the way he said it.

Before he could respond, Elena quietly touched Elias’s arm.

“Leave him alone.”

Adrian smiled.

“She’s defending you again.”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“Someone has to.”

Lucien looked toward Amara again.

She was leaving the library.

For one brief moment, he considered following her.

He didn’t.

He stayed where he was.

Because whatever was happening inside him whenever she was near…

He needed to understand it before he let himself get any closer.

Amara stepped outside.

The afternoon sun was warm against her skin.

She adjusted her bag and started toward her next lecture.

She had almost reached the stairs when she heard someone call her name.

“Amara?”

She turned.

Elena stood behind her.

“Oh.”

Elena smiled.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You dropped this.”

She held out a pen.

Amara looked at it.

“Oh. Thank you.”

She reached for it.

Their fingers brushed.

Elena suddenly went still.

Just for a second.

Amara didn’t notice.

But Elena did.

She felt something.

Something she couldn’t explain.

She looked at Amara more carefully.

“Are you okay?”

Amara smiled.

“Yeah. Why?”

“No reason.”

Elena forced a smile.

“See you around.”

“Yeah.”

Amara watched her walk away.

There was something strange about Elena.

Not frightening.

Just…

Different.

Later that afternoon, Amara was walking across campus when she heard shouting.

She turned toward the sound.

A group of students had gathered near the basketball court.

Someone had fallen.

Amara hurried closer.

A student had cut his hand badly on a broken piece of metal.

There was blood everywhere.

Someone called for help.

Amara stepped back.

Then she saw Lucien.

He was standing nearby.

He had apparently been hit by the same piece of metal.

A thin line of blood ran down his palm.

“Are you hurt?” she asked before she could stop herself.

Lucien looked at her.

“No.”

“You’re bleeding.”

He looked down.

For the first time, his expression changed.

Almost imperceptibly.

He closed his hand.

“It’s nothing.”

“You should get that checked.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Amara frowned.

He walked away.

She watched him disappear around the corner.

Something about the interaction bothered her.

Not because he had been rude.

Because his hand had looked badly cut.

Yet he hadn’t even flinched.

That evening, Amara sat at the dining table while her mother prepared dinner.

“How was school?”

“Good.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

Amara shrugged.

“Not really.”

Evelyn glanced at her.

“You’re smiling.”

Amara immediately stopped.

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“I’m just tired.”

Her mother smiled faintly.

“Of course.”

Amara hesitated.

Then she asked casually,

“Mum?”

“Yes?”

“Do you believe in vampires?”

The knife in Evelyn’s hand stopped.

Amara noticed.

Her mother slowly looked at her.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

She laughed.

“Someone mentioned them today.”

Evelyn’s face remained unusually serious.

“Vampires aren’t real.”

Amara nodded.

“Right.”

But her mother’s voice had sounded almost rehearsed.

That night, Amara couldn’t sleep.

She kept thinking about Lucien’s hand.

The cut.

The blood.

The way he had acted as though nothing had happened.

She turned over.

Then back again.

She sighed.

“This is ridiculous.”

She closed her eyes.

And immediately saw his face.

She smiled despite herself.

She was falling for him.

She knew it.

And she wasn’t going to tell anyone.

Not yet.

Across the city, Lucien stood in the darkness of his bedroom.

His hand was completely healed.

Not even a scar remained.

He stared at it.

Then at the photograph on his desk.

A photograph of the Vale family.

It was old.

Very old.

And one name was written across the back.

VALE.

Elias had found it in the archives.

Lucien’s expression darkened.

“They’re back.”

Behind him, Elena stood silently in the doorway.

“You knew this day would come.”

Lucien turned.

“No.”

Elena looked at him sadly.

“You’re lying.”

Lucien said nothing.

The next evening, Amara stayed late on campus.

She had lost track of time studying.

By the time she left the library, the campus had become strangely quiet.

She pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

The walkway ahead was almost empty.

Then she heard something.

A low sound.

Like someone breathing heavily.

Amara stopped.

She turned.

Nothing.

Her heart began beating faster.

“Hello?”

Silence.

She took another step.

Then she saw him.

Lucien.

Standing beneath a streetlight at the other end of the walkway.

For some reason, relief washed over her.

“Lucien?”

He looked at her.

Then his head turned sharply toward the trees.

His entire expression changed.

Amara followed his gaze.

Someone was standing among the shadows.

A figure.

Watching them.

Lucien stepped forward.

“Stay here.”

Amara frowned.

“What?”

He didn’t answer.

The figure moved.

Lucien moved faster.

Far too fast.

Amara’s eyes widened.

For a split second, his eyes seemed to change.

Darker.

Sharper.

Almost red.

Then he was gone into the darkness.

Amara stood frozen.

Her heart pounded.

She didn’t know what she’d just seen.

She didn’t know what Lucien was.

But suddenly, every strange thing she’d noticed about him made sense in a way she didn’t want to believe.

And somewhere in the darkness, Lucien knew one thing.

The secret was no longer safe.

Amara had seen too much.